Gothic Sculpture in France
Development of mediæval sculpture in France antecedent to that of other countries—Sources of instruction open to the sculptors of Western Europe—New life displayed in the art of the schools of Cluny—Exceptional conditions for the growth of art in the Ile-de-France—The early sculptures of St. Denis—The sculptures of St. Trophime at Arles—Refined qualities of the early sculptures of Chartres—The human figure not employed as a caryatid in Gothic architecture—Statues not placed in niches in this architecture—Relationship of sculpture to structural elements in Gothic art—Early reliefs of St. Denis and Paris manifest a new spirit—Qualities of design, execution, and sentiment in the sculptures of the lintel of Senlis—Natural elements common alike to Greek and mediæval sculpture—Superior freedom of the sculpture of the early thirteenth century—Sculptures of the west front of the Cathedral of Paris—Likeness to Greek art noticeable in these sculptures—Points of similarity in the Greek and mediæval genius—The statue of the Virgin in the south portal of Amiens—The statue of the Virgin in the portal of the north transept of Paris—Gothic sculpture the first in which expression predominates over form—Bodily beauty not ignored by the Gothic carvers—Significance of the grotesque element in Gothic art—The artists of the Ile-de-France the first to emancipate foliate sculpture from old conventions—Expression of nature in early foliate carvings—Early motives for ornament derived from the leafage of springtime—Delicacy of hand manifest in Gothic sculpture—Monumental fitness always regarded by the early carvers—Excessive naturalism of the later Gothic carvings—The quality of breadth in Gothic art—The colouring of Gothic sculpture 247-283
Sculpture of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries in England and other Countries
